It’s quite evident that obesity is a huge problem in the United States. About 1/3 of the adults and 17% of children ages 2-19 suffer obesity according to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention. Being overweight or being above your BMI – is a problem that should not be taken lightly.
It is frustrating to see that the conversation about obesity generally surrounds physical appearance (and the acceptance) aspect of the condition and not the actual internal damage that it can do to one’s body. Educating young children proper eating and exercising habits is now more important than ever.
About 45 years ago, our country had a great vision that placed physical well-being as a priority. La Sierra High School (as seen in the video above) started a physical education and training program that on the surface looks like a military boot camp. The idea was clear, being physically fit gives way to mental fitness. This makes complete sense – learning how to handle intense amounts of physical stress can also train you to handle heavy stress mentally and even give room to develop spiritually.
Most public high schools now rely on sports to give children any physical activity. A good portion of the time, it segregates the athletes from those less enthusiastic about physical activities (who really just sit around and misuse class time). A program like this however not only allows everyone to receive equal amounts of training, but also encourages the idea of comradery since all will go through similar trials and the competitiveness is really only within oneself.
The importance of being physically healthy is a notion that must be implanted at a young age. Along with feeding kids actual foods (instead of pre-packaged frozen foods) and educating them about food and its nutrition, schools must adopt a vigorous physical fitness course. Also, parents must join in and encourage their children to be physically active and restrict their fast-foods/junk foods intake.
Now, many people can say, “to each their own” and think that this is not really important. Yes, it may not matter so much from a personal perspective, but what should be realized is that obesity – along with the various disastrous conditions it brings – can be affect your descendants through heredity; so unfortunately, you eating horribly now could set up your future generations for various physical ailments – it’s just some food for thought.
If you agree that schools should have better physical education standards, then help us spread this story. It is a very important and controversial topic that deserves national discussion now more than ever.